


Stay

by orphan_account



Category: The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert (1994)
Genre: Accident, Angst, Emotional, Heartbreak, Joanne - Freeform, Lady GaGa - Freeform, Love, M/M, Sad, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-27
Updated: 2017-03-27
Packaged: 2018-10-11 19:21:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10472292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: That's just how you know it's true love - your heart breaks for the smallest things, and suddenly the thought of losing somebody you took for granted feels like a thousand knives in your chest.A drunken night out goes wrong, and suddenly Tick is faced with losing the one he loves.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Sweet Transvestite](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7475487) by [PWeasley99](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PWeasley99/pseuds/PWeasley99). 



> Pre-established relationship between Adam and Tick as of roughly a year

  
_Heaven's not ready for you._

_Every part of my aching heart needs you more than the angels do._

_\- Joanne, Lady Gaga_

* * *

 

"Tick, it's okay-"  
"Yeah, but it's not fucking okay, is it? Jesus Christ..." Tick put his head in his hands, shrugging away from Bernadette's light shoulder touch as though she had burned him. Something about hospitals always made him antsy - living up to his nickname, he became a mess of nervous tics and floor-pacing, twitchy and unrestful. He'd cried more than Benji had when the boy had made the wonderful decision to jump off of a set of monkey bars at school (a dare, apparently - the completion of which had earned him two dollars and a melted Caramello Koala) and broken an ankle - Benj had remained fairly nonplussed throughout the whole experience. His nature was all Marion's - astonishingly flippant and blasé towards almost anything which life threw at him. Besides, crutches and a cast are both very exciting things for an eight-year old boy. This time, however, wasn't quite as exciting for any of the involved parties. And Tick's upset couldn't be as easily-mended by a hug from his son, and half a bar of chocolate which had been residing in said son's back pocket for the last hour. Bernadette took a sip from the cup of two-dollar instant coffee she'd bought herself from a machine in the foyer to try to settle her nerves - Tick's was sitting on the floor at her feet, going cold. Her hand was trembling, false nails chattering against the beige plastic. Tick was pacing loops from one end of the short corridor to the other, a sort of maniacal energy to him - as though sitting still even for a moment would harm him in some way.  
"Tick, he's a drama queen by nature - perhaps he was just playing possum..."  
"You can't believe that, surely?"  
"...I keep thinking if I tell it to myself enough, I might start to believe it." She sat down, perching uneasily on the edge of her seat and sighing heavily - tapping her foot and biting at the dry skin on her lips.  
"You saw him, Bernie...that wasn't just whiplash and concussion, there was...there was..."  
"Blood," she finished his sentence for him, sucking her teeth. Tick nodded, his eyes welling up. Bernadette looked at the floor. "Stupid little shit..."  
"Don't you dare blame him..."  
"He was drunk, Tick..."  
"And the waste of cells that ran him over wasn't? He was all over the fucking place, Bernadette - Adam didn't see a thing coming..." He silenced her with this, sitting down by her side and folding his arms. "How am I gonna tell his mum? How am I gonna tell Benji, for god's sakes?"  
"Auntie Adam's had a bit of an accident, and he's in the hospital - he's a child, Tick, not brain dead. It's hardly rocket science." Bernadette said quietly, gently taking one of his hands in hers - Tick reluctantly accepting the touch. "He's a lot smarter than you give him credit for."  
"He swallowed a penny for a fifty-cent bet last week, Bernie."  
"True. You may want to nip that in the bud - or tell him that he needs to up his rates at the very least."  
"Or get some better friends who don't dare him to do or eat stupid shit for pitiful compensation."  
"Or that," she said with a thin-lipped smile. Tick slumped forwards, tears escaping his eyes. "Tick..."  
"What am I gonna do?...what's he gonna do?..."  
"Likely recover. Probably go back to exactly how things used to be. Whine incessantly about the pain for a few days. Force you to wait on him hand and foot for the duration of the time he takes to heal. It's not overly-complicated." Bernadette tried to inject some humour into the situation, but even this fell short. She paused, before accepting defeat. "I don't know..."  
"What if it's permanent? He'll be heartbroken..."  
"He'll survive. I'm sure it'll take more than being smeared across a pavement by a dickhead in a Mercedes to stop Miss Felicia. We'll keep muddling along, hoping for the best. Just like we've always done."  
"What the fuck is a drag queen who can't dance, or- or walk gonna do for a living?"  
"Woolworths, probably," Bernadette sighed. "He'd hate that. Not nearly enough attention involved."  
"Do you really have to berate him at every turn you get?" Tick snapped at her, causing her to draw back several inches. "Take this seriously, Bernadette- he might- what if he..."  
"He won't die." Bernadette gave a curt, knowing nod - her lips pursing tightly. For the first time, she found herself dabbing away tears with a hand, putting her other arm around Tick. "He won't. I'll promise you that. I think he may just hand around out of sheer spite so he can pester me for a few more years." Tick gave a weak smile. Bernadette sighed, bringing the tone back to a more morose one. "Let's not lie to ourselves though, Tick. He's badly hurt - just because it isn't fatal doesn't mean that it'll be pretty. He'll be upset. And he'll need you. But you won't be much help to him if you're a blubbering mess, will you?" Tick shook his head feebly, standing up to look through the strip of window in the room's double doors; the only glance into the few hundred square feet of doctors, white sheets, and twittering machines that had become Adam's world within the last hour. He still had his wig on - though it was full of blood and badly-askew, a hank of his own dark brunet hair hanging out, plastered to his forehead with perspiration. His eyes were shut - skin drained of colour, an oxygen mask obscuring most of the ashen pallor of his face. Wires and tubes ran in and out of every visible orifice and patch of skin; Tick relieved to note that some life was still there, the steady blip of a cardiogram punctuating the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest. Bernadette was right. Whilst not exactly intact, he was alive. And for now that was about all that really mattered to him. Tick felt the warmth of Bernadette's presence behind him - the smell of Chanel and cigarette smoke, and the light waft of air as she tossed her scarf over her shoulder. She took his hand gently, looking into the room at Adam with her lips tightly pursed.  
"He will be okay," she muttered softly, seemingly as much for her own comfort as his. "In time."  
"I don't know what I'll do without him, Bernie..." Tick sighed. "...Benji called him 'daddy' the other day. He won't have anyone to play Legos with, or to tell him stupid made-up bedtime stories about two princes falling in love and living happily ever after..." he sniffed, biting back tears. "I wish that I'd never bothered falling for the fucking idiot. Because that way this wouldn't hurt so much..."  
"That's just how you know it's true love, dolls - your heart breaks for the smallest things, and suddenly the thought of losing somebody you take for granted feels like a thousand knives in your chest. I wish it wasn't so, sometimes..."  
"I love him..."  
"I know. And you'd still love him even if he did leave us. But he won't. He's not going to go anywhere."

**Author's Note:**

> Written on a whim after being loosely inspired by 'Sweet Transvestite' by Pweasley99, and Joanne by Lady Gaga


End file.
